0
J
A MCIT ta
XA VlOll iJ
BURLINGTON SHOPS
Over Forty Members of Club Spend
Afternoon the Guests of
Supt. Baird.
ARE GIVEN A ROYAL WELCOME
Assisted by General Foreman Hayes and Store Keeper
Regnier and Others of the Force, the Sight
Seers are Shown Many Things.
(From Tuesday's Dally)
About forty five of the boosters of
Plattsmouth spent one of the most
enjoyable afternoons of their lives
yesterday when the city Commercial
club made a visu to the Burlington
shops of the town. The trip was a
grand success and some of the men
state they wouldn't have missed it
for two years of their life. The success
of the inspection tiip lies largely on
the shouldeis of the three best men in
Plattsmouth, William Baiid, general
superintendent of die shops; Robert
Hayes, geneial foreman; and II. M.
Ilcgniei, store keeper, who devoted
their whole afternoon to the club
in explaining what makes the wheels
go round, answering hundreds of
questions, keeping the visitors off the
hot metal and from sticking their
fingers into the buzz saws. The time
could not have been more pleasantly
spent, every employee was patient
and civil when the "rubbercrs" got
in their way and interferred with their
work, in fact, the afternoon was an
ideal one.
The members met at the corner of
Sixth and Main streets as scheduled
and at two started on their march
down the street gathering up the slow
ones as they went along, By Hie time
they reached the foot of Main street
a big delegation had assembled and
they proceeded to the gate of the yards,
i The club had been honored with the
key and opening the gate, they ap-
preached the store house. Here they
were given the glad hand by Mr.
Baird and others of the Burlington,
and with a few men as guides, the
crowd started out on an instructive
trip.
The first department visited was a
small red building containing thous
ands of patterns of mill work which
are all indexed and numbered so that
they can be refered to or gotten out
for use in a few minutes notice.
The pattern of every piece of work
ever turned out in the mill is preserved
in this pattern building, and the value
of it's contents are nearly inestimable.
From the pattern house, the dele
gation was shown into the mill shop
with its heavy block floors and numbers
of saws, planes and wood-working
machines." The ceiling of the big room
is covered with rapidly moving belts
and pulleys and the air is filled with
the squeeking and gruaning of the
circular saws that arc turning huge
oeks of wood into finished pieces
of railroad cars. Not a scrap of wood
from the mill is wasted, the smaller
pieces are cut into small strips, etc.,
and when the waste is reduced to
shavings and chips, it is drawn by a
powerful draught through a large pipe
into the boiler room, where one boiler
is run entirely on tho waste wood of
the mill. The amount of wood that
is used in the shop is something enor
mous, there being half ft million feet of
lumber put through the place every
month.
Adjoining the planing mill is the
engine room of the plant where all
the power for the entire plant is gen
crated. Here a gigantic Corliss
engine with a drive wheel measuring
about twenty feet in diameter devcl
opes five hundred horse power for the
running of the different machinery
in the shops.
As wc passed from the engine room
into thctoach shops we noticed how
conveniently all the buildings were
arranged, all connected with rail
road tracks, so the material can be
carried into any department where
it is needed. Kvcry possible machine
for eliminating labor and cutting ex
pense is found and the whole shops
'arc suprisingly clean and bright.
On entering the coach shop wc were
told that thirty four ears were put
through the department and repaired
last month. Here wc found cars of
every description and in every state
Tur
inx.
of delapiation. There were mail
ears that were being entirely 'refitted,
cream cars that had been jammed in
wrecks and passenger coaches with
hardly more than the frame work
left.
Here it would be well to describe
the route of a car after it arrives in
the shops in a bad state of repair
When it is brought into the yards
a form is filled out telling just what
repairs are to be made on it and giv
ing the details of all the work. If
it's condition is very bad and the car
has been in service for some time,
it is entered by the "strippers" who
go through the coach and rip out every
thing possible in it. The cushions
are removed and sent to be cleaned,
the seats arc taken out, the windows
and sash are torn out and sent to be
repaired and varnished, the brass
work is sent to be cleaned and per
haps replated and there is nothing
left of the car but the frame work.
It is then raised up on jacks and the
trucks arc run out to have the wheels
evened up. Every part of the car
goes to a different department and
each man does his particular work
on it in his depaitment. Everything
is cleaned and brightened up, the
worn parts arc removed and when the
car finally passes under the eve of
the last inspector it has the appear
ance of a product just out of the fac
tory. The coach shops were a busy place
here were men crawling under the
cars in the pits, adjusting the trucks,
next to them was a man applying a
sand paint to the ends of a mail car to
prevent it from being worn by the
cinders of the engine. Close by was
another brush artist lettering the sides
of a passenger coach and on the
next track were men placing new seats
in an old time chair car. In one end
of the place we climbed the stairs and
found ourselves in the varnish rooms
where the sash and small fiittngs of
the cars were receiving coats which
made them shine like a Lincoln penny.
Connecting the room with the de
partment below was a pneumatic
elevator which carried up the weather
beaten sashes and sent down the glit
tering sashes that had been through
the process in the room.
Passing outside the truck sheds wc
were shown a few pieces of scrap iron
and some wheels that were the re
mains of a seventy foot coach and a
smaller one that had been wrecked
ami burned in an accident in Mon
tana. We entered a small building
filled with car wheels which had been
taken off ears that were being repaired
in the simps. The latter, steel wheels
which are used on the faster passenger
trains are sorted out and, if in bad
repair, are sent to the machine shops
to be turned down until true, The cast
iron ones used on freight cars and some
passengers, cannot be repaired after
the flanges have become battered
and flattened out, and they are thrown
away as scrap.
Next to the truck sheds is a small
red building in which all the cushions
arc washed and sterilized in hot water.
Before being brought to this depart
ment they are divested of all their
wooden mountings and metal trim
mings. The first process is to clean
them thoroughly with n powerful
vacuum cleaner after which they are
immersed in a bath of hot water and
scrubbed with a soft soap which the
railroad makes for the purpose. They
are scraped with a dull metal knife
and set up to dry. The small tears and
holes are patched up but if they are
in very bud condition they are sent
to the upholsteiiiig department to
l.c done over, If the color is badlv
faded from the cloth, they are given
a strong coat of dye.
Leaving this department wc went
into a small shed where the repairing
of the heating plants is done. The
place was filled with different sized
pipes ami machines for cutting and
fitting the pipes. Walking througf
the yards, we saw a string of coaches
just turned out of the shops awaiting
the arrival of material for the putting
on of the finishing touches, and a little
farther down was a big drying kiln
which all the lumber used for the fin
ishing work is put through, and all
the moisture drawn out in steam.
At this point we entered a large
brick building where the fog makers
of the plant were situated. Above
our heads was a pipe connected with
the mill, through which is carried the
shavings to supply one of the four
boilers with fuel. We found the boilers
have been in continual service for
twenty-two years and are still giving
fair satisfaction. It is the hope of
Mr. Baird to have new ones installed. ,
this season and tho arrangement of
them changed considerably, If the
change is made, they will run ah In
chne track up the hill next to the
building so that the coal may be un
loaded directly into the building
In the winter months, all the exhaust
steam from the engine is sent througli
the pipes of the plant for heating
purposes, but now it is not used at all
At the corner of the building wc
found the spring, that has a repn
tation not only in the shops but in the
city and surrounding country as
well, as giving the best water on
God's green footstool. All the mem
bers of the party drank to the health
of the Burlington out of the long
handled cups from the moss covered
spring, l lie local shops are one of
the few establishments of theirkindin
the country where no ice is necessary
for the drinking water during the
warm months. The aqua-pura has
been piped by the company into dif
ferent parts of the shops and into the
waiting room of the depot.
After tanking up on the clear liquid
the boosters proceeded to the black
smith shops close to the spring. This
was one of the most interesting de
partments of the plant. The first ma
chine our eyes fell on was cutting
threads on different sized bolts run
ning out three pieces at
time. At a machine next to it, was a
man putting the heads on bolts with
a big noisy apparatus. The plain rod
i 11 t
are neat en until a cherry red and
clutched by the machine which in
four movements, hammers the hot
i 1 . II mi
inetai into a square nead. uiey are
then taken by the man next to him
who turns out the completed article
with the threads on them.
He were attracted by a machine
with six drills working in a soaping
solution which was cutting new threads
on nuts of six different sizes at once,
lhe rusty and worn nuts are put in
the machine and come out as good
as new. Uur attention was then called
to three enormous steam hammers
the jacks of which were dairing a
grotesque, noisy jig on their heavy
plates below them. Each haninic
was operated by one man and the
irgest could deliver a blow of six
tons. YV e saw two men approaching
one of the machines, each with a ret:
lot iron bar. They placed the bars
together under the hammer ami with
few gentle taps from the michtv
jack, while the bars were slowly
revolved, the pieces were perfectly
welded into a single bar. Underanoth-
er hammer, a man was pinching off
pieces of inch metal as easily as Netnctz
would cut his taffy.
Proceeding to an adjoining brick
milding we crowded around a big
hydraulic press having a pressure of
150 tons. By pneumatic pressure
one man picked up a large ear coupling
in the yard and running it in by an
veihead track he lowered it into the
press. Under the enormous pressure
of the machine the bolts were snapped
off the coupling with a loud report
in a tew seconds tune. 1 he work was
formerly done with three men with
hammers and cold chisels at about
three times the present expense. On
the dtitside of the substantial looking
minding was a machine that clipped
ofi metal bars and rods as though thev
were punk. The operator offered to
do free manicuring work for the club
members but none of the fellows
seemed to be inclined to have their
work done.
Next we enteied the place where
the patterns are made and all the tin
and brass work is done. The depart
ment where the brass finishings were
made was the most interesting there.
We observed them take old brackets
that were worn and tarnished and
immerse them in a sulphuric acid
bath to remove any grease or dirt.
After going through the acid solution
the t.nioth surface was removed by
placing them in a strong sand blast
which gives the metal a rough surface
so the brass will adhere when placed
under the influence of electricity.
The bracket was then attached to
the cathode wire and a strong current
sent through it after it had been
lowered into a solution of cynidc of
copper. In the action of the juice, the
brass from bars which were placed
in the dip, passed through the solu
tion and adheres to the metal. In
a few minutes a coat of sufficient thick
ness had gathered, and it was taken
out and washed. Most of the brass
l work is now being given a chocolate
finish which is put on by immersing
the metal into another acid solution.
The article is then given a coat of
of laqucr which gives it it's finishing
touches. This new method of finish
ing hi ass has many advantages over
the polished metal, for it will not
tainish and never changes its eolor
or becomes dark. The laquer is ap
plied in a solution of banana oil which
made the visitors think they had
dropped into Sehiappicassc's during
a itanaua sale.
Wandering into another part of the
car repairing department we saw them
painting up the frame work of three
large locomotive cabs. When in
their position on the ground they look
ed big enough for an Omaha flat, but
by the time they are placed in position
on a locomotive and are filled with
levers., throttle and guages, their
size will seem to be greatly reduced
A few pace down the shops wc took
In a number of punches in operation,
not the Jerfries kind, but the kind
that puts any sized hole in a sheet
of metal of any thickness. There
were punches of nearly every other
description however, there was a big
power punch, an air pressure punch
and a small "armstrong" punch oil
used for different kinds of work.
We fearlessly entered a small room
all enclosed with a light grating and
over the door of which hung a bold
sign "Positively no admittance." It
was a tool room used to turn out
small patterns and special work.
Here the boosters all annexed a souv
enir of a coil of steel turned out of the
machine in operation there.
Down the hall was the air machine
where the pneumatic pressureor the
enure nam, is made, mere were
.... J ' . 1 x 1 mi
many air tools in this room, and we
watched the interesting process of
removing air couplings from worn
out air hoses that are sent into the
shops by the car load. They have
constructed special machines for the
work where after the bolts are snapped
by pneumatic clippers, the hose is
filled with air under strong pressure.
The ends of the couplings aie closed
and the hose is suddenly gripped be
tween two jaws which compresses the
air and forces the couplings out of
both ends.
A little further down the line was
a heavy machine turning the flattened
and worn steel wheels and immediately
across from it was a machines busily
grinding away on a gear wheel. The
wheel was received in a blank form and
the desired gears or cogs were being
cut into it by this apparatus.
The brass foundry was another
interesting place, where they melted
up the valuable metal worth twenty
cents a pound ond running it into
molds. The molds are made out of
sand shipped from near Niagra Falls.
The work requires a skilled man and
it is rather a delicate task to remove
the wooden patterns from the wet
sand without spoiling its surface.
Any casting that requires a hole run
through it, necessitates a burnt sand
core. The sand is shaped into the de
sired form after being mixed with
flour and heated in an oven.
The metal is melted in graphite
crucibles having a capacity of 300
pounds each. They are heated in
powerful blast furnaces burning both
liard coal and oil. The red hot liquid
is then carried out by an overhead
truck and with the help of three men is
poured into the molds. After the met
al begins to cool, the flasks are broken
open and the "gates" and "runners"
broken off. These are the parts which
feed the metal into the different parts
of the mold. The larger castings are
then placed in a rattler with other piece
of metal and the cylinder is revolved
until the sand is worn off and the metal
assumes a polish, lhe smaller cast
ings are polished with wire brushes.
The eastings containing sand cores
are plunged in cold water, where the
steam in the sand explodes and forces
the sand out of the opening. The
trass plant is the only foundry in the
ocal shops.
From the foundry we traveled into
the steel car shops where we viewed the
remains of a number of smashed flat
cars from railroads all over the country.
There were twisted pieces of metal
from a steel car that had melted in a
coal shute fire which had to be straight-
tied out and made into a practically
new car. mere was scarcely a foot
of metal in the damaged car that was
not bent until it could hardly be recog
nized. The work of this kind requires
considerable care, for in the heating
of the metal it is liable to expand
or contract and when the parts are
assembled they will not match as de
sired. A powerlul blast furnace burn
ing crude oil is used in melting the
metal in this department and the in
side of lhe furnace is kept at a white
teat when in operation.
Leaving the roar of the furnace be
intl. we journeyed through the
supply house filled with castings anil
Hilts and came up to the brass pattern
shop. It is a small frame building
filled with valuable little wooden pat
terns of brass work, the contents of
the one building being valued ai $5,000
From the pattern store house we
went to the supply house where an
enormous quantity of every thing used
on a railroad train is kept on hand.
After looking wistfully at the colored
solutions in bottles which some said
was fire extinguisher, the party brought
up at the platform from where they had
started. After voting Mr. Baird and
the good Burlington people a vote of
thanks for their hospitality in enter
taining the boosters for.the afternoon,
the party filed out of the big gate and
started for town just as the whistle at
the shops anuounced the hour of five.
FINAL MEETING OF PRESENT
COUNCILMEN WAS HELD
new lounellmen To Take Oath
ol Office This Evening.
(From Tuesday's Dally)
The city council met last evening
for it's final session of the year and to
night the new council will be sworn
in. The only changes were in the
Third and Fifth ward representatives:
F. M. Steimker in the Third will
be succeeded by A. S. Will and William
Mendenhall in the Fifth by William
Gravctt.
The regular routine of business
was gone through and reports from the
different committees were read. It was
ordered that the mouths of the city
sewers ami drains be cleaned out at
once so that they would be ample to
carry off the spring rains. There was
but. little new business brought up
but a large number of bills were al
lowed and an official count was trtade
of the election returns. The election
returns were practically the same as
were stated in one of last week's edi
tionds of the News.
The bills allowed.
Plattsmouth Water Company
hydrants.... $877.50
Nebraska Lighting Company,
street lights 125.00
Klopp & Bartlctt 6.50
Louis Dose C OO
August Bach 0.00
Nebraska Light Co 110.00
Platts.Telc.Co 1.50
Library expenses 7. GO
Olive Jones 25 .00
James Donelley 4 , 50
J. V. Egenberger 19.50
Neb. Light Co 3.00
James Wiliams 1 . 50
C. L.Martin 3.00
Cass County, board of pris
oners 12.00
M. Archer 30.00
II. M.Young ." . 10.00
D. L.Amjck 50.00
Henry Trout..., 50.00
H.M.Miller 5.00
Philip Harrison 24 00
W.B.Rishel 30.00
AlO'Niel 17.50
The election bills were:
Anton Nitka 3.00
Edward Polin 3.00
JohnWeyrich 3.00
Fred Jess 3.00
JohnVondran 3.00
Louis Dose 3.00
J. Johnson 3.00
Jas, Itebal 3.00
ClausBeotal 3.00
Henry Goos 3.00
L.D.IIiatt 3.00
W. D. Messersmith 3 .00
John Linderman 3.00
J. II. Thrasher. . 3.00
Fred Black 3.00
John Black 3.00
iV. N. Sullivan 3.00
Henry Jesse 3.00
lDespain 3.00
George Say les 3 .00
E.Ptak 3.00
August Tartsch 3.00
J.C. Peterson 3.00
August Bach 3 .00
Pollard Returns.
Hon. E. M. Pollard returned from
Hayti, Sunday with his family and
is now at his home in Nchawka look
wig after his farming interests. He has
been away so long and not been in
position where he is acquainted with
political conditions in Nebraska he
was unable to say very much politically
when talking to a News representative
last night. However he said that
the stories circulated that he had with
drawn from the congressional race
were untrue, as he has not withdrawn
but will make a statement regarding
the matter as soon as he has had time
to become hotter acquainted with
conditions. He was pleased with his
trip to the Islands but he is glad to
get back to Nebraska and says he has
seen nothing during the past four
months that looks as good as Nebraska.
E. B. Mallery of the International
Harvestor Company was in the city
yesterday making some repairs on
Hatt's new machine. He departed
this morning for his headquarters
in Omaha.
Sheriff C. D. (juintoii and wife took
a morning train for Lincoln. The
sheriff was taking a man sentenced
to three years for horse stealing to
the penitentiary and Mrs. Quinton
will spend a few days with her Capital
city friends.
WILL PUT
ON A PLAY
High School Pupils are at
Work on Good Com
edy Drama.
PRODUCTION ENTITLED
"CUPID AT VASSAR."
Will be Presented at the Parmele
by a Caste ol Twelve.
The pupils of the high school are
now getting down to practice on a
play they will put on at the Parmele
theater about the first week in May.
It is a pretty college drama with a
strong love story running through it,
entitled "Cupid at Vissar." It is a
production of Owen Davis, the author
of "At Harvard." etc. The work of
putting on the production is under
the supervision of Mrs. G. E. Dovey
and Mrs. II. S. Austin, and the pro
ceeds of the affair will be used for the
good of the school.
The leading parts in tho play are
carried by George Dovey, Francis
Wlmlen, Lucile Gass and Helen Clark.
The love story is taken from life in
the New Englajid States and the play
opens with a scene of the sitting room
in a Vermont home in the early fall.
The second act is in a Senior's room
at the famous girls school, Vassar.
Tho third act shows the same room
as act one, but a few months later.
The home in the little Vermont town
is gayly decorated for the Christmas
lolidays, for the home coming of tho
two daughters who have spent the in
tervening months in study at Vassar.
The ground is snow covered and the
Christmas weather is ideal.
The last act is on the college campus
at Vassar in the following spring the
big tunc of the school year, the gradua
tion days.
The play is not of the type gener
ally put on by matures, but it is
full fledged drama with a clearly
defined plot woven through it, and
in the amount of work and practice
it will require to present it, it cannot
be compared with the light musical
coiuedys and farces that are generally
put on by schools. It is going to mean
a lot of hard work for the students
but they are going into it with the
one determination of giving the Platts
mouth people something a little
out of the ordinary. The exact date
that it will hold has not been decided,
but it will be a few weeks before gradu
ation, that will mean about the first
of next month.
The "heavy" is carried by George
Dovey in the part of John Willett,
a young architect of rather scanty
means but with pluck and stick-to-it-ivness
that rapidly raises him to the
front. He is a true lover of Kate,
one of the seniors at Vassar. The
part of Kate is presented by Lucile
Gass. The Senior is strongly in love
with John, but the attentiveness of
the young people is a source of great
distress to her mother, Mrs, Newton
and her half sister, Wanda.
Mrs. Newton, Bess Edwards, has
her mind set on Amos North, a wealthy
young fop of the city with a disposi
tion like a mud hen, whom she thinks
Kate should love for his money if
nothing else. The part of North is
carried by Frances Whulen and the
role of Kate's half sister, Wanda is
filled by Helen Clark. Wanda is also
opposed to the match of her sister
and John Willett ami does all in her
power to prevent it. She has had a
considerable sum of money left to
her while her sister Kate is quite
financially embarrased.
The old saying that true love never
runs smooth holds good in this case
and it is following many comical
circumstances and disappointments
that Kate finally gets her own way ami
is engaged to the man she loves, while
her sister Wanda is won by the wealthy
North. The part of "Shiny" a lazv
darky servant is to be taken by Le
land Briggs and the role of the hired
man, "Hank Gubbin" is filled bv Otto
Lutz.
Hallie Parmele, Ina Hatt, Anna
Snyder, Rachel Livingston plav the
parts of Sally Webb, Matty Hart,
Patty Snow antl Helen Conway,
all students at Vassar. Villa Gapen
appears os Miss Page a dignified
patron of the girl's school.
It is an ideal play of rollicking col
lege, life and hardly could anything
be better suited for the High school
pupils than "Cupid at Vasar" Here's '
to the pupils, wishes of loyal support
and success in presenting it to the
Plattsmouth people.